Patterns of ALK expression in different human cancer types.

Aims: Oncogenic gene fusions involving the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase have been identified in several haematopoietic and sporadically also in solid tumour types. Preliminary results from clinical trials suggest that patients with ALK fusion positive cancers might optimally benefit from the tyrosine kinase inhibitor crizotinib, but a comprehensive analysis of solid tumour types for ALK fusion and fusion associated expression is lacking.

Methods: In order to identify human solid cancers carrying ALK alterations, we performed real-time PCR screening of 1000 tumour samples representing 29 different tumour entities.

Patterns of TPD52 overexpression in multiple human solid tumor types analyzed by quantitative PCR.

Tumor protein D52 (TPD52) is located at chromosome 8q21, a region that is frequently gained or amplified in multiple human cancer types. TPD52 has been suggested as a potential target for new anticancer therapies. In order to analyze TPD52 expression in the most prevalent human cancer types, we employed quantitative PCR to measure TPD52 mRNA levels in formalin-fixed tissue samples from more than 900 cancer tissues obtained from 29 different human cancer types.